Teen Sexual Activity, Pregnancy and Childbearing among Latinos in the United States. Fact Sheet.

The Latino population is the fastest-growing major racial/ethnic group in the United States. By 2020, approximately 16 percent of the population will be Latino. This increase will be even more pronounced among teens. This fact sheet summarizes data from the National Vital Statistics Reports on reported sexual activity, pregnancy rates, and contraception use of Latino teens. By 2020, one in five teens will be Latino. The overall teen pregnancy rates, and the rates for non-Hispanic white and black teens, declined throughout the 1990s. The Latina teen pregnancy rate decreased only 4.6 percent between 1990-97, while the overall teen pregnancy rate decreased 18.9 percent. Six out of ten U.S. Latina girls become pregnant at least once by age 20. Since 1994, Latina teens have had the highest teen birth rate among the major U.S. racial/ethnic groups. The 2001 birth rate for Latina adolescents was nearly double the national average. Latino youth report higher rates of sexual activity and lower rates of contraceptive use than the general teen population. Between 1988-95, contraceptive use at first sex decreased from 55 to 53 percent for Latina teens and increased from 65 to 71 percent for all teenage girls. Increases in the average proportion of times condoms were used by never-married Latino males in the previous year were significantly smaller than increases for the overall never-married teen population. (Contains 14 endnotes.) (SM)